After Pope Liberius’ death on Sept. 24, 366, two Roman deacons, Ursinus and St. Damasus I, were simultaneously elected as successors. The small, powerful faction supporting Ursinus gathered in the Basilica Julia, in Rome, where he was apparently consecrated on September 24.

Before Damasus’ consecration on the following October 1, the pope’s partisans engaged in a bloody confrontation with the Ursinians, whom they drove from the Basilica Julia. A similar battle occurred on October 26 at the Basilica Liberia, before which Ursinus had been exiled to Gaul. His adherents induced the Roman emperor Valentinian I to consider convoking a synod that would settle the papal dispute. The emperor allowed Ursinus to return to Rome in September 367.

Again violence erupted, and Ursinus was expelled on Jan. 12, 368, being allowed to live only outside Rome. Within a few months the Ursinians were driven even farther from the city because of their agitation. Ursinus returned to Gaul, and his followers continued in schism. Allowed to return to Italy (370–372), the Ursinians became established in Milan and rekindled their opposition to Damasus.

Finally, a Roman synod in 378 exonerated Damasus and condemned Ursinus, who was exiled to Cologne. Probably ambition rather than orthodoxy was the issue of the schism, and Ursinus is known to have been still involved in intrigues against Damasus as late as 381. Ursinus unsuccessfully sought to succeed Damasus in 384.